Chapter 22 A Queen’s Command #2
The queen stopped bouncing, her dark brow furrowed.
“I suppose it was too much to hope for.” Her face brightened.
“But we are entering a new age, defined by possibility! And we will discover knowledge that has been hidden from us for centuries. If you have not already, you will give all your notes to your brother.”
Sybil looked to Diana, who shrugged.
“But…” Dangerous to argue with a queen. She’d learned, however, to live a little closer to the edge. “What will Temple do with them?”
“Attempt the impossible, of course, though not a word of his assignment is to be breathed outside these walls. Your brother has been tasked”—the queen raised herself up every one of her scant inches—“with discovering the mechanics of…” She looked at Diana. “What did you call it?”
“Transmutation.”
“Transmutation. Precisely. It’s a matter of national importance. Once others know lead can be turned into gold, a host of problems arise. Destabilization of the Bank of England among them. It will not do. Still… if it can be done, your brother is the one to do it.”
Sybil had already done it. “And you wish me to… share my notes with him?”
“Yes. They will be a great help to the crown. And to your nation. And to thank you for your contribution, I will find you the most perfect husband next season. I’m determined. You’ve studied the list of potential suitors I helped Lady Fordham compile, of course.”
She… had not. She could barely pull the list out of the dark corners of her memory. She’d been busy turning lead into gold.
Say it. The deep voice in her mind had a sardonic edge. It was a voice she never wanted to hear again, a voice she ached to hear at the same time.
I cannot. That Sybil’s voice. He would scoff, he would shake his head. He would be disappointed in her.
As if he’d not disappointed her!
No future.
She must find a husband.
And if she did tell Queen Victoria that she could already transmute metals… the dangerous thing would be out in the world, and everything that had broken between her and Apollo would be for naught. Temple might never create it. She’d sabotage her notes. The secret would go with her to the grave.
Still, his voice whispered, Say it, princess. Don’t let them tell you who you are.
“Perhaps,” the queen said, “we shall marry in the same year.”
Diana tilted her head. “You have been considering it, then? Who? I do not mean to presume, Your Majesty, but I am curious…”
“You shall discover who soon enough. But while I have you here, I thought you might answer a question. In regard to matrimony. The question is of a rather personal nature.”
“I shall do my best,” Diana said. “What in particular are you curious about?”
Queen Victoria’s face puckered. “It’s all so practical. I should like for there to be more to my union. How did you know you were in love with Lord Fordham?”
Diana hummed. “It took me a while. I was in love with him long before your uncle put me in the tower, but it wasn’t until I was up there that I knew for certain.”
“Because you missed him?” the queen asked.
“Yes, but the feeling was more precise than missing. I missed telling him things. I had so much to think about when I was up there, and every new thought, every revelation, I wanted to spill into his ears. And I realized it had been that way for quite some time. When I learned something new or when something exciting happened, he was the first person I wanted to share it with. I looked forward to seeing his reaction, to sharing it with him. I think that is part of love, at least for me. Finding the person you cannot wait to share all of life’s little achievements and sorrows with. A true partner.”
Queen Victoria looked thoughtful, then she gave a stout nod. “I shall take that under advisement. And you should, too.” Her pointed look was for Sybil alone.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The queen stood and two guards materialized out of thin air. They must have been glamoured and standing behind her the whole time. They followed her out of the conservatory, and some seconds later, Sybil followed Diana out, too. Temple met them at the doors, and soon they were back in the carriage.
“How did it go?” he asked, settling into the bench at Diana’s side.
Sybil hugged the corner of the carriage. “Congratulations, brother, on your new project.”
“She told you about the transmutation project.” Temple rubbed his jaw. “It’s a hopeless cause. A waste of time.”
Say it, princess. Don’t let them tell you who you are.
“What if”—she clenched her hands in her lap—“I helped?”
“I’m sure your notes will be more useful than Stone’s, but—”
“No. Not my notes. Me. In the forge. Your”—she held her breath, not sure where any of this was coming from, only that Apollo’s voice wouldn’t stop chanting in her head, goading her on— “apprentice.”
She’d told him almost nothing about her journey to Yorkshire, about what she’d learned about herself, about metal, about heat, during her time there. She must tell him now. Or Apollo would never let her alone, and… she didn’t want to be a coward anymore.
Temple blinked. Then he blinked again, his mouth opening slowly. He rubbed his ear. “Pardon. I think I misheard. Say that again?”
Diana nudged his shoulder with hers. “Sybil wants to be your apprentice, Temple.”
“I… but I…” His face was growing red. He ruffled a hand through his hair. “But you can’t!”
The carriage grew quiet. Sybil wanted to sink through the seat and onto the street. She’d never told anyone what she wanted. She’d always known how it would go. Just like this.
Across from her, Temple kept his voice low and soft. “You’ll get hurt, Sybil.”
She had gotten hurt. Many times in the past weeks, but a bit of aloe and honey and caring hands had set her right. Those same hands had always set her back toward the forge after healing her. It could not have been only for his own selfish reasons. But then… perhaps it was.
“You don’t even have heat,” Temple said. “How can you work the flame?”
She reached into her pocket, found half of Apollo’s gold there. where she’d kept it since finding it on the stable floor after his departure. She was such a silly, foolish woman. But this metal would be proof of her power as well as of her weakness.
She held it up on her palm, closed her eyes, and reached for the heat. It didn’t want to come at first. She didn’t want it to come. To show such evidence so brazenly that she was not as she should be.
But still Apollo whispered. You can do it, princess. Send the world to hell.
The heat shot through her like a bolt of lightning, and the gold melted in her palm.
Temple cursed. Diana gasped.
And Sybil saw the gold through tears. Apollo felt so close, as if his breath were across her cheek, as if his frustration were evident in the cross of his arms over his chest. As if his pride were puffing that chest out.
She wanted to tell him about all of this.
Tell him and cry on his shoulder, tell him and scream her victory to the heavens. He would scream with her.
“Can you shape it?” Temple asked, voice gruff.
Slowly, Sybil swirled it, puffed it out, segmented it.
“A sheep!” Diana laughed.
Sheep were no laughing matter. They led to kisses that killed.
“Hades hellfire,” Temple hissed. “You can… but I thought… Well damn.”
Sybil pushed her heat back and cooled the metal, and Diana hugged her hard.
“This is fantastic. Simply amazing. How absolutely wonderful!”
When Diana pulled away, Sybil pocketed the gold and met her brother’s thoughtful gaze. “Will you do it? Make me your apprentice?”
“I must think on it.”
“Temple!” Diana almost shot out of her seat.
“It’s never been done before as far as I know,” Temple said, voice calm, muscles controlled. “I’ll not hurt her. I’m not saying no. I’m saying we must… proceed with caution.”
That was enough for now. He hadn’t laughed or stormed away or locked her up. He’d neither mocked her nor rejected her. For now, it was not just enough… it was everything.
Slowly, the carriage rolled to a stop, and she reached for the door. Finsbury Square bustled around her, and Lady Guinevere’s Potions rose tall above it all.
Temple’s hand caught her arm. “Quick, inside. You can’t be on the street alone. Stone—”
“Will not narrow my entire life to nothing.” She tugged her arm out of his hold. “I will not hide away forever.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Diana said, hooking their arms together.
Temple and Diana hurried Sybil inside like a precious parcel.
But precious things were wrapped in cotton and stored away where they would never come to harm.
They rarely saw the light of day, never risked a tumble from a shelf or the accumulation of dust. Sybil had risked much today. Something she’d never done before.
She’d not died.
She might be Temple’s apprentice.
She could not even enjoy it. Because the one person she wanted to share it all with… was the one person she couldn’t.